The board will have until Feb. 18 to determine whether to call for the bond referendum to ensure the item is included on the May 7 election ballot. As presented at the meeting, the bond would total $750 million and would be financed over a seven-year period.
According to Deputy Superintendent Roger Brown, the bond advisory committee, which comprised 157 members, met for six work sessions over the last three months to discuss the future needs of district. The district’s student enrollment stands at 48,080, marking an increase of 5,779 students since the 2017-18 school year.
“We’ve been growing now for some time, and previous bonds have been addressing that growth,” Brown said. “This bond addressed that growth, and we’ll continue [to address growth] because we’re going to keep growing through this decade.”
According to Brown, the committee considered 30 potential projects for the bond plus allocations for technology, career and technical education facilities, and priority one and priority two facility assessments and repairs.
Among the projects that received the most support from the committee included the construction of Middle School No. 11, additional classrooms as Summer Creek High School, continued renovations at Humble High School, the replacement of Ross Sterling Middle School and the addition of second practice gyms at all five middle schools.
Additional projects included the installation of turf at the high schools' baseball and softball fields, improved daylighting at middle and elementary schools, dance rooms at nine middle schools and new playground equipment at each of the district’s elementary schools.
Brown noted there were three options for trustees to consider for the proposed bond:
- Option 1A includes 19 projects, a $30 million technology allocation, a $10 million CTE allocation, and $79 million for priority one and priority two facility assessments and repairs. This option was supported by 27% of the committee’s members.
- Option 1B includes 17 projects, a $35 million technology allocation, a $14 million CTE allocation, and $85 million for priority one and priority two facility assessments and repairs. This option was supported by 57% of the committee’s members.
- Option 1C includes 16 projects, a $38 million technology allocation, a $15 million CTE allocation, and $120 million for priority one and priority two facility assessments and repairs. This option was supported by 70% of the committee’s members.
The recommendations are coming as the district continues work on projects included in the $575 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2018, which included the construction of the upcoming Middle School No. 10, renovations and rebuilds of several campuses, the installation of turf fields at high schools, and security and technology enhancements throughout the district.
According to Superintendent Elizabeth Fagan, the district has been able to complete more than was originally included in the 2018 bond because of reduced costs on materials and labor due to COVID-19. Some of that additional work included adding 20 classrooms at Atascocita High School instead of 10 as well as the complete rebuild of North Belt Elementary School.
“We did all of that and kept the promise that we would not raise the tax rate in our community,” Fagan said.
For additional information on the proposed bond, visit www.humbleisd.net/cbac.
